


Tension tests friendships, partnerships and relationships.

by TvFan16



Series: Maggie & Jubal balance work and dating [9]
Category: FBI (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Jealousy, Missing Scene, Romance, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Secret Relationship, Spoilers, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-24 04:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30066480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TvFan16/pseuds/TvFan16
Summary: This story will continue on in the Maggie/Jubal series a few weeks after the Christmas story. It contains spoilers from Season 3 Episode 8. This story will contain missing scenes from that episode and how some of us wishes it had of played out at the end. Yes Kristen will still appear in my story as I really think her character is fun for the Maggie/Jubal relationship.
Relationships: Maggie Bell & Jubal Valentine, Maggie Bell/Jubal Valentine
Series: Maggie & Jubal balance work and dating [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929145
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @findinemo for requesting some of this and providing the muse to write this.

Jubal and Maggie had gone out for an early dinner with Jubal’s sister Jennifer, they had been planning on it for a while now. They were thankful that they had gotten finished up at the office early today so that they were all able to make the dinner. Jennifer’s husband and son were out of town for a sporting event so she was glad to meet up for dinner. They were sitting back just enjoying some coffee after dinner as none of them were in a rush to leave. Jenny sat her cup down looking at Maggie and Jubal who were sitting opposite her, Jubal had his arm resting on the back of Maggie’s chair. 

“So how is it living with my brother you ready to kick him out yet?” Jenny raised her eyebrow joking playfully.

Maggie laughed hearing the question and seeing the face that Jubal pulled “Not ready to kick him just yet” she smirked looking at Jubal.

“Hey, you make that sound like you haven’t been enjoying it.” Jubal nudged her shoulder gently. They had been living together a few weeks now and the truth was that they were both loving it, it was still new to them but at the same time it felt like they had been living together months rather than weeks.

“I think your ex wife makes it hard for Mag’s not to want to kick you out” Jenny looked at her brother as she spoke, her and Maggie had really grown close over the last few months, that was why she was now calling her Mags and not Maggie.

“Ah so Mags has been filling you in on that?” Jubal looked at Jenny before at Maggie.

“I didn’t tell her anything that would be too much, your sister just has a way of getting me to talk. It’s something you Valentines are apparently very good at.” Maggie looked at Jubal as she spoke.

Jubal smiled softly as he leaned in kissing Maggie “I’m not mad that you talked to Jenny about Samantha acting like a teenager. I’m honestly glad that you had her to talk to”.

Jubal hadn’t called Samantha Sam since her latest behaviour which was really over the line. Jubal had brought the kids home after a stay with him and Maggie and Samantha had invited him to stay to put the kids to bed, before Jubal left Samantha had tried to kiss him. Not wanting to keep secrets from Maggie he had come straight home and told her. It had only happened last weekend so it was still a tense subject for Jubal.

Jenny reached over laying her hand on her brothers arm “I’m not sure you’ll be glad to hear that Mags talked to me about it when you know what my reaction was.”

Jubal raised his eyebrow looking at his sister and then Maggie “What happened? I mean you seemed better after talking to Jen”.

Maggie shook her head laughing “Jen stop winding him up…” she lay against Jubal gently, laying her hand on his thigh just above his knee.

“As his big sister I think you’ll find that it is my job to wind him up.” Jenny smirked playfully, she really did love getting to wind her brother up, maybe a little too much.

“Is this where you are going to tell me that you told Mags to run as far away from me as fast as she could? Because if so I already told her I would understand if that was her reaction.” Jubal had moved his arm from the back of the chair to rest his hand on Maggie’s shoulder, letting his fingers run along her arm slowly.

Maggie could see that Jubal was still struggling with the incident with Sam, had she been upset and angry when he told her? Yes!. But she respected that he came straight home and told her what happened, he hadn’t tried hiding it from her. Jen saw that her brother was getting lost in his own thoughts so she decided to tell him the truth.

“I told Mags that if she ended up murdering your ex wife that I would happily be her lawyer”. Jen couldn’t help the laugh that escaped when she saw Jubal’s reaction “What? It’s not like I like your ex and I’m sure that I could find a way to get Mags free of the charges. If it helps she wasn’t keen on the idea.”

“Should I be worried that you have just admitted that you tried to tell my girlfriend that it was okay to murder my ex wife?” Jubal had started to relax again when he heard the humour in his sisters voice.

“No, like I said Mags was not interested in the idea at all and if it helps she also has no intention of leaving you because of what happened.” Jen had a genuine smile on her face as she said the last part.

Maggie smiled watching Jubal when he heard his sister, he turned his head looking at Maggie “You sure that no part of you is finding all of this too much?”.

Maggie shook her head as she leaned up kissing Jubal softly “It’s going to take a lot more than your ex wife being jealous to scare me away from you Jubal.”

Jubal smiled as he kissed Maggie back softly and he lifted his free hand caressing her cheek gently, he placed small kisses against her lips whispering “I love you baby.”

Maggie smiled hearing Jubal’s words but before she could speak Jen was jumping in “Now is when I remind you sweet baby brother that if you screw this up I am on Mags side” Jen smiled so sweetly at Jubal which just had Maggie laughing.

Jubal didn’t get the chance to respond as his phone rang and he sighed seeing Isobel’s number coming up as he knew this meant they had a case “Hey Isobel, what we got?”

“A car bomb went off in Queens, I need Maggie to go there and meet up with OA, Stuart and Tiffany and I need you in here.”

“Okay I will be there in less than fifteen minutes.” Jubal hung up from Isobel and looked at Maggie “You are needed at a crime scene, car bomb, the other’s are going to meet you there.” Jubal had drove both him and Maggie to meet his sister for dinner, and this was where it was going to be a slight problem.

“Well I have everything I need in your SUV, so you are going to have to drop me close to the scene and then I can catch a ride back with OA.” Maggie was thankful that they had gone for somewhere casual to eat as it meant she was in her jeans and boots, she did have one of her more dressy tops on that she didn’t wear to work but her Jacket would hide that and Jubal did have one of his nicer shirts on but she didn’t think anyone other than Kristen would notice.

Jen knew that they still hadn’t told the team about them dating and living together, only Isobel and Ian knew and she completely understood why they didn’t want to tell the others yet.

“Why don’t you let me take you to the crime scene Maggie? If any of your team happen to see me they have no idea who I am.”

Maggie looked at Jen surprised by her offer “Jen I couldn’t ask you to do that, I’m sure you would rather just go home.”

“Mags I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it, it makes more sense, means Jubal can head straight in to the JOC and I can take you to your partner.”

Jubal smiled at his sister he really did love how close her and Maggie had gotten over the last few months, he knew that she was genuine when she made the offer. “Let’s head out to my car you can grab what you need and then you can get going.”

Maggie knew that there was no point trying to argue anymore, she knew that Jen was genuine in her offer and that it also really did make the most sense as Jubal was needed in to the JOC as soon as possible. Jubal stood up and paid for their dinner ignoring the protests against it from his sister, they stepped outside and went to Jubal’s SUV.

Maggie opened the back of it and slid on her FBI Jacket and beanie hat as her hair was down, she opened the locked box and took out her gun and badge, sliding both on to her waist where they belonged before zipping up her jacket. She turned to face Jubal who was standing watching her.

“I’ll be careful and I will keep you updated with what is happening at the scene, and yes I’ll make sure that it’s me making the contact and not OA.” Maggie couldn’t help but smirk playfully as she looked at Jubal and she could hear Jen chuckling softly.

“Hey I am not going to apologise for wanting to make sure that you are safe, and we both know I rest a little better at the JOC if it’s you making the contact and not OA.” Jubal gently pulled Maggie close to him, resting his hands on her lower back, he knew that his sister had gotten used to him being affectionate with Maggie in front of her. Jen stepped to the side though to give them a moment as Jubal leaned in kissing Maggie softly but with so much “I love you baby.”

Maggie wrapped her arms around Jubal’s neck as she kissed him back with just as much love, she was still surprised at times with how openly affectionate he was, but with them about to take on a case she understood it. She lifted her hand to his cheek gently “I love you too babe… I’ll see you soon.”

Maggie stepped back from Jubal and walked over to Jen to follow to her car, they both turned back and waved at Jubal before disappearing around the corner. Maggie and Jenny chatted as they drove to the address that Isobel had text her. The closest that Jen could get was around the corner from the crime scene so she pulled in to the side to let Maggie out of the car.

Maggie smiled looking at Jen “Thank you so much for dropping me off and I’m sorry that we had to cut our night short.”

“No need to apologise I know it is out of your control, it was nice to get some time with you and my brother. Be safe, and yes I am going to need to know that you both are okay at the end of this case.”

Maggie told Jenny that she would let her know that she was safe, she was a little emotional realising just how much Jen clearly cared about her. When Maggie had walked around the corner to head towards OA and the others Jen took out her phone and text Jubal.

‘Just dropped Mags off, reminded her to be safe. It was good to see you both tonight, make sure you both make it through this case safely.’ 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie and Jubal learn they have to work with someone neither of them want to even see.

Jubal had just walked in to the JOC when he heard his phone alert him to a text, he took his phone off its holder and smiled reading his sister’s text, he typed out a quick reply. 

‘Thank you Jen for taking Mags and for reminding her to be safe, I’m sure she’s sick of hearing it from me. I will keep you posted on how things are.”

Jubal had slid his phone back on to it’s holder as he walked along the top of the JOC as he made his way to Isobel’s office to get caught up on what they knew so far. When Isobel had caught him up on everything he made his way back out to the JOC and updated the analysts on the little information that they knew so far and sent them to work with their different tasks.

Kristen was sitting at the top of the JOC near Jubal’s computer, Ian was siting beside her and she raised her eyebrow seeing Jubal “Did we interrupt a hot date for you Jubal?”.

Jubal was looking at the large screens when he heard Kristen’s question and he turned around facing her and Ian “I was out for dinner with my girlfriend and sister” Jubal realised how close he came to saying Maggie’s name, he furrowed his brows looking at Kristen “Wait, how did you know that I was on a date?”.

Ian was trying to hide the smirk on his face as he knew exactly who he was on a date with, he was curious how Maggie had gotten to the crime scene from their dinner date. Kristen lay back in her chair looking at Jubal “That is not a work shirt that you are wearing”.

Ian couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Kristen as he looked at Jubal “That’s the joy of working with observant women boss.”

Jubal could tell that Ian was trying hard to hide the smirk on his face, he had to admit that Ian had been really good at hiding that he knew who Jubal’s girlfriend was as none of the team knew that Ian knew the truth. Jubal shook his head laughing looking at them.

“Thankfully I wasn’t trying to hide the fact that I was on a date or I guess I would have really failed. Now that you have confirmation that I was indeed on a date how about we get to work so that I can pick up where it left off.”

The team were working as hard as they could, following every lead that they had come across or that the analysts had sent their way. Maggie had been true to her word and had contacted Jubal to let him know what they had gotten so far, which wasn’t a lot. Stuart and Tiffany had gone to question a suspect that they had come across thanks to CCTV footage, he had a reason for being there that was confirmed by his now ex girlfriend, but he had given them another lead. Isobel had just gotten a call and came out from her office walking over to Jubal.

“Counter Terrorism have sent over an agent with a team to work with us on this case, they are waiting for us in one of the conference rooms. You ready to join me to talk to them?”

“Yeah the analysts are working hard with what we have so far, maybe Counter Terrorism have something that can help us, so lead the way.”

Isobel walked ahead of Jubal walking into the conference room that they were waiting in, he had heard a message alert on his phone so he was checking that as he entered the conference room, but he froze on the spot when he heard the voice that was speaking,

“So where we at?”

Jubal was convinced that he was hearing things, there was no way that this could be happening, not right now. He lifted his head from his phone and was faced with Rina standing across from him smiling so sweetly at him, why the hell did Isobel not give him a heads up, but when he glanced at Isobel he realised that she too had been caught off guard.

Isobel glanced at Jubal who had just froze standing holding his phone so she knew that it was going to be up to her to talk “We have a witness who saw a Middle Eastern looking man exit a black Chrysler, hang about for a little bit and then take off a few seconds before that same black Chrysler detonated.”

Isobel looked at Jubal as she really couldn’t give anymore information as he hadn’t caught her up yet on where the analysts where. He seemed to realise that Isobel was telling him to take over where she left off, he gripped his phone a little tighter as he looked at Rina and her team.

“We’ve been looking for more surveillance video but so far we’ve been striking out.”

“Well were striking out over here too, no chatter, no intel, but we’re reaching out to our various assets to see what they know” Rina focused on Jubal as she spoke, still smiling at him.

“Well the deputy director has suggested that we work this together.” Isobel didn’t have to glance at Jubal while speaking to know what his reaction would be.

“My team and I are happy to work closely with you on this, I’m looking forward to working with you again Jubal”. Rina had a slight smirk on her face as she looked at Jubal.

Jubal looked at Isobel thankful that the other agent’s from Counter Terrorism had left the conference room so it was only him, Isobel and Rina left. “I need to go and find Maggie and tell her about this before someone else does.”

Rina had heard Jubal and was speaking before Isobel could “So that little fling is still happening huh? I thought you would have been bored of her by now.”

Jubal closed his eyes taking a deep breath, this could not be happening, not after the incident of his ex wife trying to kiss him last weekend. He turned his head to look at Rina “My relationship really is none of your business Rina and has nothing to do with this case.”

“So still too ashamed of it to have told the other’s?” Rina had a permanent smirk on her face now.

Jubal looked at Rina and just shook his head looking at Isobel “You mind if I go find Mag’s?”

Isobel could tell that Jubal was nervous about how Maggie was going to react when he let the ‘Mags’ slip out, he had been careful even around her to make sure he always referred to her as Maggie when talking about work. Isobel shook her head gently “No go ahead, do what you need to, I can hold down things here.”

Jubal left the conference room still gripping his phone as he went in search of Maggie, Isobel turned looking at Rina “Unless you want him to never speak to you again I suggest that you don’t let slip about his relationship to any of our agents while working this case with us. I would hate to have to tell the deputy director that we weren’t happy with the work from Counter Terrorism.” Isobel left the conference room before Rina could say anything else to her.

Jubal had just made it in to the JOC when he saw Maggie coming walking towards him, she was smiling as she spotted him and made her way towards him but she froze a couple of feet from Jubal and her smile had completely disappeared. Jubal didn’t have to look behind him to know who Maggie had spotted, he stepped closer to her so that he could talk without anyone else hearing them.

“Mags let me explain it to you.”

Maggie was standing with her hands clenched in to fists “If you are about to tell me that we have to work with her I’m not sure that I really want to hear it.”

Jubal was struggling to not reach out and take Maggie’s hand in his “Can we go home and talk about this, please?.”

Maggie nodded as she didn’t trust her voice right now, she stepped past Jubal and made her way to towards the elevator with Jubal right behind her. He honestly didn’t care who saw them he could come up with an excuse later, right now he needed to get Maggie alone so that they could talk. They were standing at the elevator as Rina walked over to them.

“Really you two are sneaking off together when we have a bomber out there?”

Maggie was clenching her fists even tighter hearing Rina, Jubal looked at Rina “Rina you heard Isobel, she can hold things down here, right now we need to go home and get changed.” Jubal had said about going home on purpose as he knew that it would leave Rina a little speechless which gave him and Maggie enough time to step onto the elevator. Rina’s eyes didn’t leave Jubal’s as the elevator doors closed.

“Isobel might want to take my gun from me while Rina is around me.” Maggie spoke as she closed her eyes leaning her head back against the elevator.

“I would rather not find out that my sister was serious when she said she would be your lawyer in a murder trial baby.” Jubal let his hand brush against Maggie’s thankful when she unclenched her fist and let their fingers tangle.

“I think Jen would be surprised if I wasn’t up on murder charges if she knew what was going on right now.” Maggie glanced at Jubal before having to let go of his hand as the elevator opened and they made their way to Jubal’s SUV. The parking lot was really quiet so they didn’t have to hide that they were getting in to the same SUV. The journey home to their apartment was travelled in a comfortable silence, both their minds were working over time trying to process everything.

When they got inside the apartment Maggie walked into their living room and almost fell down on to their couch, it had been a long night and she was exhausted, she lay her head back against the back of the couch. Jubal sat his keys down in the bowl on their breakfast bar and came over sitting down beside Maggie. He didn’t know how she was feeling about seeing Rina and he really didn’t want to do anything to make this worse.

Maggie opened her eyes and titled her head to the side looking at Jubal “So you want to tell me what she was doing in the JOC?”

Jubal ran his hand along Maggie’s arm wanting and needing the contact, he was thankful when he didn’t feel Maggie pull away. He was actually surprised when he felt Maggie’s head land on his shoulder, he lay his cheek gently against the top of her head.

“Isobel came in to the JOC and told me that a team had been sent over from Counter Terrorism to work on this case with us, I had no idea it was Rina. I walked in to that room with my phone in my hand as you had text to say that you were back at the office, I heard her talk and just froze. I was about to lose it at Isobel when I realised that Isobel had no idea either. But unfortunately baby we are going to have to work with them on this case.”

“You mean that Rina is going to want to be stuck to your side and follow you around, get you alone and work with you on this case.” Maggie was playing with Jubal’s fingers as she was talking.

Jubal tensed a little hearing Maggie, as much he was loving the closeness with Maggie he hated not being to see her face. “Baby, I swear to you that I will be doing everything to make sure that I am never alone with Rina in a room. I wish I could ask them to send us another team but it’s not how it works.”

Maggie was quiet for a minute before she pulled her head back laying it on the back of the couch again facing Jubal so that she could see him, he lay his head back as well so that they were eye to eye. She squeezed his hand gently.

“You know that she probably requested to be put on this case, and especially as she’s leading the counter terrorism team. But I saw the look of panic on your face when the smile dropped off my face in the JOC and you knew why it had dropped, I know you didn’t know it was her they were sending. She’s just the last person that I was expecting to see tonight.”

Jubal let out the breath he didn’t even realise he was holding when he heard Maggie say that she knew he was genuinely surprised that it was Rina they had to work with. He lifted his free hand and lay it gently on Maggie’s cheek caressing her cheek with his thumb “I honestly have no idea if she requested it, I tried to talk to her as little as possible baby. There is only one person that I want following me around, getting me alone and being stuck to my side.”

“Yeah? I’m not sure OA knows how much he means to you.” Maggie smirked playfully as she leaned in kissing Jubal slowly but with so much love, her free hand moved to his neck caressing his jawline with her thumb.

When they broke the kiss Jubal was placing small kisses to Maggie’s lips “I’d hate to disappoint OA but it happens to be his partner that I’m madly in love with, who I share a home with”. Jubal whispered the last words as he deepened the last kiss he pressed to Maggie’s lips and pulled her as close to him as possible.

Maggie broke the kiss and stood up holding her hand out to Jubal “Let’s make the use of the time that we have now before one of our phone’s ring because we know it’s going to happen.”

Jubal didn’t hesitate for even a second as he stood up and took Maggie’s hand and they made their way upstairs to their bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jubal and Maggie steal a quick moment together in the break room and Isobel makes a suggestion that catches Jubal off guard.

Last night when they made it to their bedroom Jubal was convinced that Maggie would go straight to sleep as it really had been a long night for them but as they lay in bed kissing it turned in to them not being able to get enough of each other. He had whispered in her ear and against her lips many times how much he really loved her, they had locked eyes as they both fell over that edge together reaching the high pleasure.

Jubal stood in the break room with a smile on his face as he remembered the way that Maggie had dug her nails in to his back softly moaning out his name, it was one of his favourite sounds and one that he would never get tired of hearing. He was pulled out of his memories when he felt a hand run along his lower back and he turned his head to the side to see Maggie.

“Care to share what has you smiling so much?” Maggie raised her eyebrow looking at Jubal.

He leaned down stealing a quick kiss “My back and I were just remembering the amazing time we had last night with my beautiful girlfriend.” He whispered against her lips placing one more kiss before pulling his head back a little.

Maggie was still a little thrown when Jubal would squeeze in these sweet moments at work, there was no teasing in his voice, he was really just thinking about them and the love he felt for Maggie was evident in his voice and eyes.

“You still find ways to surprise me with just how sweet you are babe” Maggie smiled softly as she ran her hand along Jubal’s back and lifted his cup stealing a sip of his coffee, stepping to the side to stand beside him as they heard someone coming into the break room.

Jubal lay his shoulder lightly against Maggie’s as he looked at Rina and he took the cup from Maggie when she handed it back to him as Rina stood watching him before suddenly remembering why she had walked in there.

“Isobel wants to see us all in the conference room. If you two can manage to separate for that long.”

Rina was pleased with herself when Maggie stepped away from Jubal but he reached out with his free hand and gently spun Maggie back around to face him and he chuckled softly at her confused look, he slid his hand in to his pocket and pulled out her SUV keys “You left home without these this morning baby, I grabbed them on the way out the door.”

“Oh my god I forgot I took them home with me last night.” Maggie went to take the keys from Jubal but he pulled them away quickly and pulled her closer stealing a quick kiss from her before giving her the keys. Maggie shook her head laughing as she slid her keys in to her pocket and turned to leave the break room just as Jubal went to take a drink of his coffee “Oh babe I wouldn’t do that, you forgot to add sugar.” She glanced over her shoulder smirking at him knowing them kissing had made him forget to add his sugar.

Jubal shook his head smiling as he quickly added the sugar and stepped past Rina as he left the break room “You wont want to be late if Isobel is waiting on us”. Rina had expected Jubal to wait for her but he walked on past her, she tried to walk quickly to catch up with him but he was called by Ian to look at something at his computer. Jubal and Ian joined Isobel, Maggie and Rina moments later in the conference room, Jubal smiled at Maggie as he walked past her to turn on the screen so that Ian could mirror his laptop on to it.

“So Ian and the team checked into the story from Rob Salem, guy who stole the black Chrysler. Turns out he was telling the truth, he has no ties to any terrorist groups, he was just a kid looking to make some quick easy cash. Salem says that he met the guy in Astoria, that he had just finished eating at a restaurant called ‘Tanneri’, was smoking when the guy approached him.”

“I know that restaurant, it’s a Syrian restaurant. A guy named Hassan Ali owns it, we’ve been monitoring him for a few years.” Rina focused on Jubal while talking, she wasn’t letting what she had witnessed between him and Maggie make her think any differently about their relationship. She was convinced it was a fling that he would get fed up of soon.

Ian pulled up a picture of Hassan Ali on to the screen and Isobel was the first to speak “He matches the general description Salem gave Tiffany and Stuart but it’s not a lot to go on.”

Rina finally looked at Isobel this time while talking “It’s something and we’ve got a CI in the neighbourhood. I’ll get on that right away”.

Rina went to leave the conference room but Isobel stopped her “Agent Trenholm take Maggie and OA with you.”

Jubal was taking a drink of his coffee when he heard Isobel and he coughed as the coffee went down the wrong way “You sure that’s a good idea?”

Ian was trying to hide the smile on his face as he watched Jubal who looked so uncomfortable, he wasn’t used to seeing his boss like this. Maggie hated the idea of having to work with Rina but she had to admit Jubal’s reaction did make her smile a little.

Isobel looked at Jubal “Counter Terrorism are working with us, this is still our case, so I want our agents out there with Rina.”

Rina looked at Isobel, the last thing she wanted was to have to work closely with Maggie “What about agent’s Scola and Wallace, they got the description from Salem, shouldn’t it be them?”.

Isobel raised her eyebrow looking at Rina “This is still my case, I want my two lead agents on it, if you don’t want to join them then send one of your team members, but it’s Maggie and OA who will be going along to speak to the CI.”

Maggie looked at Jubal who was scratching the back of his head as he was still uncomfortable about it all, Rina turned and stormed out of the conference room and wouldn’t even look at Maggie while talking as she went past “I’ll met you and Zidan at the elevators in five minutes”.

Maggie watched as Rina walked on before giving her a chance to reply, she glanced at Jubal “Don’t worry, I promise to make her shooting look accidental.” Maggie smirked as she left the conference room to go find OA, she heard Ian’s chuckle as Jubal choked again on some coffee.

Ian raised his eyebrow looking at Jubal “Maybe you should just stop drinking coffee while around Maggie and Rina for the rest of this case. I do believe that Maggie could make it look accidental, OA would help her.”

Isobel was surprised to hear Maggie and then Ian, she looked at Jubal confused “Ian knows?”

Jubal nodded laughing “He does, found out few weeks ago just before Christmas. You really sure that was the best idea?” He nodded towards Maggie and OA who were walking towards the elevator.

Isobel looked at the three agents disappearing into the hallway as they walked to the elevator “I’m sure your girlfriends can get on long enough to not kill each other on this case.” Isobel left the conference room smiling before Jubal could reply. It may sound strange to outsiders to hear them joking when they were working on a case but it was moments like this that actually helped them deal with the things that they saw on their job.

Jubal sat down in the nearest chair groaning as he heard Ian laughing again “You are proving right now as to why I think relationships are not worth the hassle, but it is very entertaining to watch.”

Jubal shook his head hearing Ian “Thanks Ian, very helpful.”

“Hey you are the one that decided to get in to a relationship with someone that you work with.”

“That’s not something I regret, I am just regretting the decisions I made in the past that are now causing issues. No nothing more than a drunken kiss happened with Rina back when we were partners, but it seems to have meant more to her.” Jubal sighed as he drank his coffee.

“Yeah I gathered from the fight you and Rina had on the McMay case in here that something happened, honestly expected you to say more had happened with how pissed she was. I’m guessing Maggie knows?”

Jubal nodded, it actually felt good to talk to Ian, he trusted him and Ian had stopped with the teasing and was being serious now. “Yeah I told Maggie, but after we closed that case Rina came here to congratulate me and tried to kiss me, Maggie caught her.”

“And Maggie didn’t just shoot her?” Ian joked but then got serious again “Well I may not know everything and I don’t know a lot about relationships but from what I’ve seen Maggie isn’t mad at you, she’s pissed at Rina. Sounds like she has every right to be, but you and Maggie seem strong, and in a good place, focus on that.”

Jubal was surprised about how genuine Ian sounded and truth was he really needed to hear that. He thanked Ian for listening to him and for what he had said before they finally left the conference room and got back to work in the JOC. Kristen was trying to get information out of Ian about what he and Jubal had been talking about but Ian just kept telling her it was work, that he and Jubal didn’t really talk about personal things. Jubal had overheard him and smiled knowing that his and Maggie’s secret was definitely safe with Ian.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rina annoys OA, Maggie and Jubal get some brief time together while they wait for OA to return.

Maggie was thankful when Rina told them that she would take her own car and gave them the address that she had arranged to meet her CI, Vega Assad. They had let Rina do the most of the talking when they got there as she was the one that had been dealing with him, but it was clear that Rina wasn’t getting anywhere with him. Vega told them that if they wanted to talk to him they would have to talk to his lawyer first, he handed Rina his lawyer’s card and walked away. Rina took the card and looked at Maggie and OA, 

“Either of you heard of a lawyer by the name of Mona Nazari”

Maggie looked at OA when she heard Mona’s name, it was up to him whether he told Rina who Mona was to him. OA smiled softly at Maggie when she looked at him as he knew that she wasn’t going to disclose who Mona was, but he didn’t see any reason to hide it.

“Yeah Mona is my girlfriend. She left the US attorneys office two months ago and set up her own legal clinic.”

Rina was starting to get pissed off, she had to work with Maggie, her CI wouldn’t cooperate and now OA’s girlfriend was involved in the case.

“Well I don’t know what your girlfriend is trying to do with Vega, we made a deal with him two years ago after he got busted for armed robbery and on top of that he was undocumented which meant he was facing deportation. NYPD reached out to us and we stepped in and made a deal with Vega.”

“So he has delivered valuable intel to you?” Maggie looked at Rina as she spoke.

“Nothing that has led to any arrests so he owes us. He doesn’t get to just walk away now that we need him.” Rina looked at OA as she spoke “Girlfriend or not, if Vega doesn’t live up to his side of the deal he’ll back on a plane to Damascus real soon.”

Rina didn’t even give OA a chance to reply she just took off walking towards her car, OA looked at Maggie “Well she is going to be a joy to work with on this case, how did Jubal ever partner with her?”.

Maggie shook her head chuckling softly to hide the little bit of anger at the idea of Jubal and Rina together as it was obvious to her that Rina was here to try and get Jubal again “I’m afraid that’s something that you are going to have to ask Jubal because I really have no idea. Let’s hope after this she at least stays at the office with Isobel. Come on you can drop me off at 26 FED before you go talk to Mona, I know that you want to go talk to her on your own, I don’t have an issue with that but I am not travelling back to the office with Rina I would honestly rather walk”.

OA laughed as he nudged Maggie’s shoulder gently as they made their way towards their SUV “Oh come on Maggie I actually like working with you so I wouldn’t even suggest that you go back there with her.”

Maggie was smiling as they climbed back in to the SUV, she knew that if OA knew everything that he would dislike Rina even more if that were possible right now because it was clear that he didn’t like her. OA dropped Maggie off outside 26 FED and drove to Mona’s new office to talk to her about Vega. Maggie stepped off the elevator to head towards the JOC and Jubal almost walked into her, he was looking at his phone until he almost walked in to someone. He lifted his head from his phone to apologise and he smiled softly at Maggie, the one that was reserved for her.

“Mags what are you doing here?”

“Erm I work here, unless that changed and you know it’s good to see you Maggie, sorry for almost walking into you” She raised her eyebrow smirking playfully.

Jubal chuckled softly hearing Maggie “It is good to see you, you know it’s always **really** good seeing you” He smirked playfully “I am sorry for almost walking in to you, you’ll forgive me when I show you why, but what I meant was aren’t you and OA meant to be talking to Mona?”

“Hmm if you are sure I’m going to forgive you that easily then it has to do with the kids and I let OA go talk to Mona on his own thought it was better that way. He dropped me here because there was no way I was sharing a car with Rina.”

“Yeah okay that was a really good call, you and Rina in the same car is not something that should ever happen.” Jubal shook his head thinking about that, knowing that it would not go well at all. “I need to find a way to thank OA for dropping you off here and not making you go through with the other option.”

“Oh trust me I would have walked back here quicker than getting in a car alone with her, no thank you. Don’t worry you can thank OA by answering the question he has for you” Maggie chuckled softly seeing Juabl’s confusion “He wants to know how you ever partnered with Rina.”

“She managed to piss him off in that short space of time?”

“Let’s just say she was not impressed when she found out that her CI’s lawyer was OA’s girlfriend. Which brings me to my question, why hasn’t she just told everyone here about us?.”

“I’m not sure you are going to like the answer, but saying it out loud to someone else would mean she would have to admit that we are in a relationship and she knows that if she tells anyone here that I wouldn’t ever forgive her for that.” Jubal knew that it was best to be honest with Maggie about this, he did not want to be keeping any secrets to do with Rina that could damage his relationship with Maggie.

“You’re right I don’t like the answer but it is good to see that you know that as much as she is here to work, she is also here to try and get back in to your life and into your bed, to her I’m just a small thing that is in the way.”

“We are going to come back to you saying that I was right, because I think that’s only the second time you have said that in our seven months together. After what happened on the McMay case I know what Rina’s feelings are but you know that I’ve no interest in her baby and you aren’t a small thing. You are a huge part of my life, we live together, my future is with you, I have absolutely no interest in anyone else.”

“We are going to forget that I ever said you were right, not sure anyone would believe you if you told them I said it” Maggie joked playfully with Jubal and she smiled hearing his words “I do know that you don’t have feelings for her, working with her on this case really isn’t the easiest thing in the world right now, but I do appreciate you being honest with me babe” Maggie really hated moments like this that people didn’t know about them as she wanted to reach up and kiss him or any physical contact.

As if being able to read her mind Jubal put his hand on Maggie’s arm and moved them over to the side, to anyone else it just looked like he and Maggie were talking and had stepped to the side to move out of anyone else’s way. Did his hand linger a little too long on her arm? Maybe, but the only people that noticed that were Rina and Isobel who could see them from Isobel’s office. Maggie couldn’t help the smile on her face as she felt Jubal’s hand on her arm she knew exactly why he had done it and she loved him for it.

“So how about about you show me those two adorable kids so that I can forgive their Dad for almost walking in to me” Maggie smirked.

“I really do owe them a lot for helping their dad out without even trying.” Jubal chuckled softly as he pulled up the video on his phone that Samantha had sent him, It was Tyler practicing soccer in the back garden “Wait for it.” Jubal knew that Maggie would really enjoy the next part as it showed Tyler kicking the ball to someone and the camera turned to show Abby kicking the ball best she could back to Tyler and Tyler encouraging her and Abby jumping up and down excited.

“Oh my God that is just the sweetest thing ever, Tyler is so good with Abby. I can’t believe Abby is actually playing football with him, they both look so happy.” Maggie had a large smile on her face as she looked at the video, hitting play on it again.

Jubal always felt his heart swell with so much love when he saw how much Maggie genuinely cared about his kids, she wasn’t pretending for his sake, she really did love his kids and that meant so much to him. He had noticed that she would smile almost as much as him when they would get pictures or videos of them.

“You know you are the reason that Abby has any interest in football? I mean she was all unicorns and dolls until you came along, and you let her see that girls could play sports too. Now her and Tyler get to bond over something else.” Jubal was genuine with his words, Samantha and Jenny were not in to sports so in their family the only people that Abby saw playing sports were the males, but when Maggie and Mel came along they showed her that females could play sports too if they wanted.

“Look at you calling it football now instead of soccer.” Maggie poked his shoulder playfully laughing “I am just so glad that she seems genuinely interested in it, I didn’t think sports were Abby’s thing so it’s so nice to see her trying new things.”

“With you, Tyler and your sister calling it football it was going to rub off on me too” Jubal laughed softly “I love seeing her try new things, I’ll never make them do something they don’t love but I want them to always feel like they can give things a try.”

“They are very lucky to have you as their dad and they know how much you love them and that you would never force them to play sport if that wasn’t something they weren’t interested in.”

Jubal went to speak when he saw OA stepping off the elevator and he looked at Maggie and Jubal “Sorry that took a little longer than I planned.”

Jubal shook his head “It’s a strange situation for you OA so it’s understandable, why don’t we go find Isobel and Rina so that you can tell us all at the same time rather than repeating yourself. You two head to the conference room, I think Isobel and Rina are in Isobel’s office.” Jubal knew that they were in Isobel’s office, he could see them in there the whole time that he was with Maggie.

OA thanked Jubal and he and Maggie made their way to the conference room to wait for the others to join them. Jubal walked into Isobel’s office “OA is back from speaking with Mona, he and Maggie are waiting in the conference room for us.”

Isobel stood up and stepped past Jubal thanking him as she made her way to the conference room, Rina walked close to Jubal as they made their way to the conference room “I see that Agent Bell doesn’t trust you, I saw her checking your phone.”

Jubal didn’t even glance at Rina as he spoke “Not that this is any of your business but I was showing her a video of my kids that was sent for her.” Jubal knew that saying it was sent for her would get Rina’s attention and he was right as it made her briefly stop walking, which gave Jubal time to step in to the conference room so that he didn’t have to wait for a reply from her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OA makes Maggie walk a line she’s not comfortable with and Jubal takes Maggie aside to have some time just them to talk.

Rina was not expecting Jubal to say that he was showing a video of his kids to Maggie and that the video was actually sent for her. Maybe he was just saying that to her to cover for the fact that Maggie didn’t trust him and was actually checking his phone. Rina stepped in to the conference room looking at OA.

“I assume you’ve spoken to your girlfriend and got all of this resolved.”

Jubal knew that the anger in her tone was due to what he had told her before stepping into the room, he now felt bad as OA was on the receiving end of it but he could handle himself. OA just calmly turned in his chair to face Rina.

“I did. Mona said that Vega is willing to cooperate as long as we can help secure permanent legal residence for him when this is all over.”

“Are you kidding me? He wants to renegotiate the deal.” Rina almost spat the words out.

“Well that’s what his lawyer said so with all due respect it kinda is what it is.”

OA spoke calmly to Rina, it was clear to everyone in the room that she was upset but he didn’t know why, if they wanted Vega’s help then it was simple they were going to have to agree to this deal. Isobel jumped in before Rina could say anything else,

“I think we should go for it, we need all the help that can get. Tell Mona to talk to Vega and that we are happy to make the deal.”

Rina was pacing back and forth behind Isobel’s chair clearly unhappy with what was happening, OA nodded to Isobel and he and Maggie got up leaving the conference room heading to see Vega and Mona. Maggie stole a quick glance at Jubal before closing the conference room door and following OA. Maggie and OA pick up Vega in a surveillance truck and they park up close to Hassan Ali’s restaurant. OA tells Vega that they need him to talk to the waiter Joseph who he knows and that if he gets the opportunity to go into the back room and get them pictures of everything that he can see.

Vega has the perfect opportunity after talking to Joseph and Hassan to go in to the back of the restaurant and get the pictures that Maggie and OA asked for. Instead he leaves and tells Maggie and OA that he is done spying on his friends, that they can deport him if they want. Maggie and OA make their way back to the office in almost silence, they both know that Vega is going to get deported for not helping them. They walk into the Isobel’s office where Isobel, Jubal and Rina are standing waiting on them, Isobel lifts her head up from something she was looking at on her desk.

“We need some good news, tell us that Vega is making some progress.”

Maggie is about to speak and tell them the truth about Vega backing out of their deal and leaving the restaurant before getting them the pictures but OA jumps in before she can get any words out,

“Yeah, I think he is. He was able to speak to Hassan, it turns out that they have some close friends in common so there’s a high level of trust right off the bat.”

“Great, did he manage to get any photos, gather any actionable intel?” Rina actually sounded a little happy with the fact that OA said they were getting somewhere with Vega.

Maggie finally spoke as she focused her attention on Isobel “No, unfortunately the opportunity did not present itself.”

Jubal was watching Maggie who had been staring at the ground before speaking, she was avoiding eye contact with him and had only glanced at OA once when he started talking, he knew she was uncomfortable with what was being said and he knew that what she had just said was a lie.

Maggie had just finished speaking when OA jumped in before anyone else could “But we are very confident that he is going to be a valuable asset.”

“That’s great, stay on him, see what you can learn.”

When Isobel had finished speaking both OA and Maggie left her office, Maggie focused again on the ground and not making eye contact with Jubal. Jubal wanted to go after her and ask what was going on but Isobel was talking to him about the case so he couldn’t just walk out. Maggie walked ahead of OA but he caught up to her quickly

“Thank you for having my back in there.”

“I’m getting uncomfortable with this line that you are walking.”

“I’m fine Maggie, everything is under control.”

“Really? Because the last I checked our informant told us to go to hell.”

“He did, but I’m going to talk to Mona right now and get this whole thing back on track.”

“OA, I know this situation has got to be complicated for you, so if you want me to take point I’m happy to do that. Just to take some pressure off you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that Maggie, but I’ve got this, I promise.”

OA stepped on to the elevator as he was talking to Maggie and the elevator doors closed before Maggie could say anything else, she let out a sigh rubbing her forehead feeling a headache coming on. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Jubal’s voice right behind her, 

“Mags we need to talk… the roof.”

Maggie glanced over her shoulder at Jubal and nodded as she headed towards the door that lead to the stairs up to the roof. When they got up on to the roof Maggie made her way over to the wall and sat down on it rubbing her forehead again. This case right now was a mess and she wanted to help her partner as much as she could.

Jubal closed the door behind him and came over sitting beside Maggie on the wall, he gave her a minute to herself before finally speaking “I know you were lying in Isobel’s office, you may have fooled the others, but I know you Mags.”

Maggie honestly should have known that Jubal would have known that she was lying, she wasn’t even sure that she had actually been trying to hide from that she was lying though. She did feel a little smile trying to break free as she realised that he really did know her so well. She turned her head to face Jubal resting her hands on the wall.

“Am I talking to my boss or my boyfriend?”

Hearing that question Jubal knew that he had been right she had definitely lied to them, he just couldn’t figure out why and he could see on her face that she was really struggling. He lifted one of his hands and lay it on top of her hand closet to him.

“I don’t think your boss would take you up on to the roof to question you” He smiled playfully to try and help her relax, he felt her hand turning under his and he intertwined their fingers squeezing her hand gently “Your boss is still back in the JOC so it’s just me baby, what’s going on?”.

Maggie was playing with Jubal’s fingers lightly as she listened to him “I did lie, I did not go in there with the intention of lying, it wasn’t planned. OA caught me completely off guard when I heard him talking, I had no idea he was planning it, I’m not even sure he was planning it until the words were coming out of his mouth.”

Jubal’s heart was breaking for Maggie he knew how close her and OA were and he could see that whatever was going on was something that she was really struggling with “Mag’s what really happened at the restaurant with Vega?”.

Maggie sighed “This situation is a mess for OA, when we were wiring up Vega he accused us of making him spy on his friends and neighbours just because he was Muslim. He told OA that he should be ashamed of himself for standing by and letting this happen. Mona also accused OA of being a loyal fed no matter what the circumstances are, she believes he should be doing more for Vega.” 

Listening to Maggie a part of Jubal could understand why OA had lied to them and Maggie was protecting him as her partner and her friend. “This can’t be easy for OA, how is he coping with everything?”

“He told me that he was fine, that he keeps his two identities separate, when he’s at work he’s a fed and at home he’s the Egyptian kid from Queens. I have no idea what he was thinking when he lied to Isobel, he’s away to talk to Mona right now to try and get Vega back.”

Jubal raised his eyebrow hearing Maggie “Get Vega back, he walked out on the deal?”

Maggie ran her thumb over Jubal’s hand, she was watching her thumb brush over his skin slowly before lifting her head to look at him “Vega had the perfect opportunity to get into the back office at the restaurant to take pictures, but he left. He told us he would rather get deported than spy on his friends. We tried to stop him from leaving but he told us that he thought about taking his own life this morning, said he thought it was the only way out of the nightmare that we put him in.”

Jubal lifted his hand from Maggie’s and she thought that she was going to be getting boss Jubal after hearing what happened, she honestly couldn’t blame him if he did turn back in to boss mode. She was surprised when she felt him moving closer to her and wrap his arm around her kissing her head holding her close to him.

“You weren’t joking when you said this was a mess, but it’s not just for OA baby, I know you are his partner and his friend and that you want to protect him but you are in it with him now too, you lied for him to Isobel. Do you guys actually have a plan for what happens next?”

Maggie leaned in to Jubal relaxing against his body the best that she could, she was thankful that he was actually being so understanding with her right now as he was right, she was in this with OA. She lay her hand on Jubal’s stomach as her head was on his shoulder, her forehead against his neck.

“I need to wait and hear how OA gets on with Mona, but babe can you imagine if this was us, if we were on opposing sides? He loves Mona and he feels like she is really disappointed in him, even though he is only doing his job. I want to find a way to help OA and solve this case at the same time, he would do the same for me.”

Jubal ran his hand along her back slowly keeping her as close to him as possible “I know how close you and OA are and that he would do the same if it were you, but you know that I’m going to worry when you are involved. Just promise me that you won’t lie to me about any of it, just tell me you need me to listen as your boyfriend not your boss, but Mag’s we have to be careful we can’t risk this case and let OA risk his job at the same time.”

Maggie tilted her head a little so that she could place some kisses to Jubal’s neck “Thank you for listening to me and for not telling me to just go straight and tell Isobel the truth. I won’t let OA take this too far, I told him I am uncomfortable with the line he is already walking so he knows I don’t want to take this too far. So I’m really that bad at lying around you huh?”. 

Jubal was still running his hand along Maggie’s back slowly as he could feel her relaxing more against him, talking to him had really helped her and that made him feel a little better. He could only imagine how difficult this situation was for OA but he didn’t want Maggie getting caught up in it all.

“I’m not sure that you were really trying to hide from me that you were lying baby, but you wouldn’t look at me, from OA started talking you made sure to avoid eye contact with me, even when you were leaving Isobel’s office, I wanted to follow you straight away but Isobel was talking to me so I couldn’t just leave.”

Maggie pulled her head back a little so that she could see Jubal and she lifted her hand from his stomach and lay it on his cheek gently “At least now you know that I can’t lie you, even if I am a trained FBI agent. But I really do mean it babe, thank you for coming up here with me, for listening to me, and for being my boyfriend and not my boss.” She leaned up kissing him softly but with so much love.

Jubal ran his hand along Maggie’s arm before resting it gently on her cheek as he deepened the kiss a little more before breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers gently “I love you baby, I am always going to try to do my best for you and to help you in any way that I can. I know that we are actually lucky that we can talk about our jobs to each other.”

Maggie placed small kisses to Jubal’s lips smiling, she really had no idea what she had done to have this man love her so unconditionally, he was still surprising her with how much he loved her. She reluctantly pulled back from him and smiled genuinely looking in to her favourite Hazel eyes.

“Let’s get back to work before they are sending out a search party for you, you don’t be away from the JOC this long.”

Jubal laughed softly as he kissed Maggie’s forehead before standing up and gently pulling her up to stand face to face with him “Don’t worry, the good thing about Ian knowing is that he will notice we are both missing and will cover for me.”

Maggie shook her head laughing “I forget at times how close you two really are. Kristen will think you have left the building to go meet your girlfriend.” Maggie had started to walk towards the door to head back in to the JOC.

Jubal came up behind her wrapping his arms around her from behind resting his hands on her hips as he placed small kisses to her ear and neck “Hmm little does Kristen know that I just had to sneak up to the roof to get some time with my girlfriend.”

Maggie closed her eyes feeling Jubal’s kisses, she would never get tired of the way his kisses made her feel or how gentle and sweet he could be with her. She lay her hand on his as she stoped at the door “Yeah, we maybe need to not smile as much walking back in there or it might be a little too obvious.” She stole one more quick kiss from Jubal before having to let go of his hand as they made their way back inside the building.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Maggie be okay with OA going further across that line?

Jubal and Maggie walking back into the JOC together wasn’t anything unusual but Ian couldn’t help the small smile when he saw them walking that little bit closer than normal, or the fact that they both were trying hard to not smile. Across the JOC Rina was having the completely opposite reaction, they shouldn’t be sneaking off during work to have time together, why wasn’t someone reporting them. She saw Isobel appear behind her at the door to Isobel’s office.

“You not going to talk to them both about clearly sneaking away together during the work day?”

“We have no idea where they were and it isn’t affecting their work and that’s what matters to me”.

Isobel was about to walk back in to her office when she heard Kristen tell them that there had been a second bombing, this one was at a Freedom regional branch on 36th Avenue. There were two injured but no deaths this time. The team gathered surveillance footage from inside the bank but the bomber had his hood up so was hard to get a clear image of him. They couldn’t rule out that it wasn’t Hassan Ali or one of his associates as he had been away from his restaurant long enough to have been involved.

OA came back from talking to Mona and told Maggie that Vega was out, that he would rather take his chances in court. Maggie didn’t get a chance to respond to anything OA had said as Isobel was calling her and OA into her office to join her, Jubal and Rina. Isobel sat down in her chair and looked at OA and Maggie. 

“Where are we with Vega, was he able to gather us more intel?”

“We tried to put Vega back into play but…”

OA was jumping in before Maggie could say anything else “But he thought that Hassan might have made him. But the good news is that he got Hassan talking and we were able to identify an opportunity.”

“What are you talking about?” Isobel was a little confused as to what OA was talking about, Rina was watching on with curiosity where as Jubal was worried about where this was going.

“Well Hassan said that he has a very sophisticated surveillance system at his restaurant with cameras pointing outwards. So maybe one of those cameras caught the conversation between Salem and whoever paid him the thousand dollars to steal the black Chrysler.”

Jubal found his voice as he still wasn’t sure where OA was going with this “I’m not sure that we have enough for a warrant.”

OA nodded hearing Jubal “No we probably don’t, but it could be enough for a sneak and peek?” OA looked between Isobel and Jubal while talking, hoping that they would go for this idea.

“I don’t know OA that’s risky, it would make more sense to use Vega” Isobel rest her elbows on her desk as she spoke to OA.

“Vega is too anxious, we don’t think he can pull this one off”. OA glanced at Maggie before at Isobel while he spoke. Jubal could tell that this was the first that Maggie was hearing about this idea, he was wondering was OA going too far now especially if this didn’t work.

Isobel took a minute to think about their options and then nodded “Okay go for it.”

OA thanked Isobel and he and Maggie left the office, this time she did glance at Jubal before she left, she knew he could tell she didn’t know about OA’s idea nor was she happy with it. She felt that OA had definitely crossed that line and was now doing his best to protect Vega. When they left Isobel’s office Maggie gently grabbed OA’s arm to stop him from walking any further.

“OA what the hell are you thinking?”

“I’m trying to find evidence Maggie and the only lead we have is Hassan’s security system.”

“I agree about the security system but…”

“The only reason that we know about that security system is because of Vega”

“OA you are trying to protect Vega from getting deported”.

“No Maggie, you’re wrong, I’m just trying to do my job and chase what is in in front of me and I keep trying to tell you that.”

“I know what you are trying to tell me OA, you’re trying to say that you are really good at separating your personal life from your professional life but what I’m telling you is that you are not very good at it. You are bending over backwards to try and help Vega because you think he got screwed but stop denying it and stop pretending you are just doing your job.”

Maggie understood that OA was trying to protect Vega but she was pissed that he was making her lie for him and that he was denying the reason that he was doing it all. She stepped past OA to walk around the corner to head to the elevator and she stopped when she saw Stuart and Tiffany standing there, clearly they would have heard the whole conversation. OA was right behind Maggie and stopped when he saw Tiffany and Wallace.

Stuart decided that he or Tiffany were going to have to say something to break this silence so he spoke “Okay, let’s get to work, we got some video to steal.” Everyone just nodded and they left heading to Hassan Ali’s restaurant. On the way Maggie got a message and she knew it was Jubal before she even checked, she took her phone from her pocket and read the message.

‘Be careful out there, if this doesn’t work OA is going to have to come clean. Ian is going to keep me updated on what’s happening, he’s going to be in the surveillance van to control the electrical feed to the restaurant.’

‘It’s going to be me and OA getting the footage, he knows I’m not happy about what went down in Isobel’s office. Stuart and Tiffany overhead my conversation with OA, so we all know this needs to work. Don’t be distracting in Ian’s ear’.

Maggie was joking with her last bit of the text about Jubal not distracting Ian too much and it did work in getting Jubal to chuckle as he read it, but he still felt uncomfortable with what was happening. He really hoped that Maggie and OA were able to safely get the footage and that they would get something to help them from it. He typed out a reply to Maggie.

‘Well I can’t be in your ear and my sister has warned me that you better make it through this case safely, so Ian has to be my eyes and ears out there. Be safe, love you’.

Maggie shook her head smiling as she read the message from Jubal, she knew that they were very careful about what they text each other when at work, but she understood why Jubal had taken the risk, he hated not being able to hear or see what was happening when Maggie was in the field. Maggie sent a quick reply,

‘I’ll be safe, love you too’.

When they arrived close to the restaurant Stuart and Tiffany got in position to give Ian the signal to cut the electrical feed while Maggie and OA got inside the restaurant and downloaded the footage from the security system onto a thumb drive. Hassan Ali returned to the restaurant as he had forgotten something so Tiffany had to step in and distract him to give Maggie and OA time to finish up and get back out of the restaurant. Ian was able to turn the electrical feed back on just as Hassan went to turn on the lights inside the restaurant.

They get back to the JOC and Kristen and Ian get to work on the security footage, they find the guy that paid Salem the thousand dollars to steal the car. Kristen runs facial reg and gets a hit, Phillip Stafford, owner of Formaxx Fitness LLC. They find that the fitness company filed for bankruptcy three weeks ago, one of the victims from the first bombing was president of one of the creditors and Freedom Regional bank was another creditor.

The team had just been doing their job and following any leads they had which was the reason they had looked into Hassan Ali, none of them expected the footage to give them a completely different suspect.


End file.
